The Uyghur American Association (, ; ; abbreviated UAA) is a prominent Uyghur American non-profit advocacy organization based in Washington, D. C. in the United States. It was established in 1998 by a group of Uyghur overseas activists to raise the public awareness of the Uyghur people, who primarily reside in Xinjiang, China, also known as East Turkestan. The Uyghur American Association is an affiliate organization of the World Uyghur Congress and works to promote the Uyghur culture and improved human rights conditions for Uyghurs. History The UAA was founded in 1998. The UAA has had tax-exempt status since April 1998. Uyghur activist Rushan Abbas played a significant role in the establishment of the UAA. She went on to become UAA Vice President and was the first Uyghur reporter to broadcast daily to the Uyghur region, for Radio Free Asia, in 1998. In April 2004, the National Endowment for Democracy provided US$75,000 for the UAA. This was the first time the American government had provided aid to a Uyghur exile group. In 2004, with a supporting grant from the National Endowment for Democracy, the UAA founded the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) for the purpose of promoting improved human rights conditions for Uyghurs and other minority groups in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on the premise that the assurance of basic human rights will facilitate the realization of the community's democratic aspirations. In 2006, the UAA established a UHRP satellite office in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. An article published by the Associated Press on October 10, 2008, quoted Elshat Hassan and Nury Turkel, two leaders of the Uyghur American Association, about plans for American-Uyghurs to help the Uyghur detainees at Guantanamo Bay acclimatize, once they have been admitted to the USA. Court records included a detailed plan by the UAA to assist Uyghur detainees in resettling in the United States. In July 2009, Chinese officials singled out Rebiya Kadeer, then UAA President, for inciting the July 2009 Ürümqi riots. The Chinese government said that a photograph provided by the UAA which was supposed to be East Turkestan separatist protesters in Ankara, Turkey was actually the scene of a traffic accident in Hangzhou, China. In December 2009, the UAA expressed concern at the return of 20 Uyghur refugees from Cambodia to China. In February 2012, the UAA and UHRP announced the launch of their redesigned websites, including a Mandarin Chinese version. Alim Seytoff,